


Bitter and Sweet

by EgoDominusTuus



Series: How To Become [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Detroit Evolution, Gavin Reed has Hanahaki, Gavin Reed/Nines - Freeform, Hanahaki Disease, Kissing, Love, M/M, So does Nines, reed900, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus
Summary: Nines is an emotionally stunted android. As far as Gavin Reed is concerned, it's only a problem if they die from keeping their feelings to themselves.Oh... wait.---In which the author watched Detroit Evolution and found a new ship. Sail on, baby. Sail on.
Relationships: Gavin - Relationship, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: How To Become [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972660
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	Bitter and Sweet

I hadn't seen Gavin in days. 

That in and of itself might have been all right -- I was used to my partner sometimes being a bit odd and distant. There were weekends when he would take leave for a few days without a word, and all that I could do was wait for his return so I could scold him over the fact that he obviously hadn't slept or fed himself properly in the duration of his absence.

This was different though -- the way that we'd parted hadn't been... ideal.

We'd been fighting; that in and of itself wasn't really an odd occurrence. It was different this time, though. There was a near aggression to the way that Gavin spoke, a vehemence that trickled from his lips and nearly poisoned the air around them. We’d been discussing human and android relations, and all that I'd said was that sometimes it was impossible, because programming and design simply didn't allow an android to fulfill human needs. For some reason, that had _incensed_ him. He was shouting, telling me that for a being that was designed to be the top-tier and most advanced android that had ever been created, I was an 'emotional fucking toddler' and stunted. He'd started in on the fact that I wouldn't know emotion if it bit me on my shiny tin-can ass... and then he'd started coughing into his sleeve. 

And then he'd left.

It didn't take me long to see the spot of blood that had fallen to the floor.

Shorter still was the time that it took me to ascertain the fact that the worry in my chest would not allow me to give him the space that I usually designated on days when we fought like this. Something was wrong, and I needed to know what. 

Gavin didn't answer the door the first time that I knocked. I listened, and though I heard some rustling, a few moments of him clearing his throat, it sounded as though he were in his room. If he was ill, he needed someone to take care of him. I knocked one more time and then settled myself to going down the street to pick him up something to eat. His ability to understand the importance of nutritional balance was disheartening, and if he had taken ill, it was especially important that I get him something that would help with his recovery. 

When I returned, a soup and sandwich in a brown bag, I didn't get a chance to knock on the door. The sound of coughing spilled through the thin walls -- it was accompanied by labored, gasping breath, choking. Pain. I didn't feel the food fall from my fingers, but I did feel my boot connect with the door and the wood splinter beneath my strength. The thought that Gavin might be angry with me for nullifying his deposit wasn't on my mind.

Besides, he'd done that when he punched a hole through the wall a few months ago.

"What the fu--" But he couldn't muster his usual acrimony in his tone, even though it had seemed more playful than actually hostile as of late. As soon as his gray eyes locked with mine, he burst into another whooping fit that quickly strangled as he doubled over and shoved his fists to his mouth to try to hide... 

A waterfall of blue rose petals, stained crimson. 

It took me precisely half a second to identify what was happening. 

Hanahaki disease; in which unrequited love caused flowers to grow in the body of its host, eventually filling their lungs, perforating their organs, and killing them if they didn't confess or have the cause removed.

I knew this from my own research -- I'd been coughing up honeysuckle for the past three weeks, sweet on the tongue and wreaking havoc on my insides.

Exactly what Gavin did to me.

I'd been ready to take the issue to the grave, so to speak, because I wasn't going to burn him with emotions that I knew -- thought I knew -- he couldn't return. Even though Gavin Reed acted completely rough and tumble, I knew that he would feel guilty if he realized what had been the cause of the ailment that was slowly suffocating me. 

"Gavin!" I was at his side before he could stop me, and even though he tried to swat me away, he was much busier attempting to hold in the feather-fall of blue petals.

"You need to just," he choked, dribbled blood from his lips, "You should go. You don't need to see me like..." The coughing fit took him over, and I raised him up so I could look in his eyes. 

"Who is it? Tell me and I'll get them here right now -- or we can get you to a doctor and you can--"

"Fucking Hell. Completely. Emotionally. Stunted." Each word was punctuated with another cough. 

"Stop arguing and let me--" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence -- his blood-soaked fingers wrapped into my white jacket and yanked me forward so that my tongue was flooded with perfume and copper. 

Oh.

_Oh._

His kiss, like everything that Gavin did, was rough and full of passion; his tongue played in my mouth instantly, licking at the taste until he pulled back, shocked at the droplet of honey on his tongue. Almost against my own volition, I coughed, and the petals came out, their nectar staining my lips.

"Nines..." He leaned in, and his tongue ran the length of my lower pout. " _Nines.._ . _"_ Again, and softer this time. I realized why he was fighting me so hard earlier.

"I love you." The words spilled out before I had a chance to process and think it was a good idea. If Gavin was ill because of me -- because of some feelings for me, then... I...

"No you don't," he instantly refuted my confession, and I pulled back, took his face in my hands, forced him to look at my lips that were glistening with honey-nectar and blueblood. 

"I do."

"Nines..." He coughed -- he dribbled petals the exact same color as my blood. 

"Gavin." I drew him closer, so I could taste the soft bitterness of his breath, until he was panting in my mouth because he was right _there_ but I wasn't letting him touch. His hands shot up, threaded through my hair, tugged at my head that remained immobile. "I love you," I said it again, and something in me twisted at the lack of the returned words.

"You stupid tin-can." He growled his response, and his fingers tried to tug me forward, but I kept in place. I moved forward carefully, kissed the corner of his scowl, licked his blood, and tasted the disease there -- my body processed it. It was Gavin Reed; a little inebriated. Mostly sober. 

Closer to death than he should have been.

"Gavin," I said his name again, my processors attempting to make logic out of the situation, while my body just wanted to throw him down and force a confession from his lips with teeth and tongue. "You're sick. Let me help you."

"You--"

I kissed him again, softer this time. 

"Let me help you."

"I--"

I kissed him again, trailing my lips along his jawline and biting gently at the hollow of his throat until he moaned. I murmured my words against his pulse.

"Let me help you."

"I... love you, too." Soft. A confession. An aching moan -- his chest spasmed, and I felt the flood of petals that rained down over my head. It was bitter and sweet, and when his fingers tugged at my hair to pull me back to his mouth, I didn't resist.


End file.
